wwyd??

[fortheluvofpooh]

I am stating I am an amatuer photographer! I have stated that outright before and will continue to state it. BUT friends of ours with very low budgets for their weddings (two different brides, two seperate weddings ) , asked me to do the photos for them. THEY LOVED my work, that is all that counts to me. I am very critical of myself but they loved it. SOOO they were showing off their photos to coworkers and one of them is getting married in Nov this year, her uncle is a well known photographer in Allentown, PA, but she wants him to be in the wedding and have fun and relax. SOOOO she showed him my pics and asked him if he approved of them... HE DID!!!!!!!!!!! and now she wants me to do her pictures to. Would you accept the asking?? Like I said they have seen my work, both edited and raw and still liked them. I am just SOOOO scared to have a professional photographer view my photos. What if I screw something up?? I know ALWAYS shoot in RAW. BUT yikes.

 

[InsertWittyNameHere]

The fact that he has already seen you work and approves should count for something. And you already have the experience of shooting 2 other weddings to draw on.

Might as well go for it.

 

[annnewjerz]

I'd do in a heartbeat, especially if you are going to get paid. That's money to put towards some new equipment. Who knows...you might build up enough of a reputation to do a few weddings per year, make a little extra dough and one day become a pro and start your own business. That's probably looking a little too far down the road, but this would definitely be a good way to get your foot in the door if you think you would be interested in one day doing this as a career.

They have seen you work and still selected you, that definitely counts for something!!

Good luck and if you can, let us know how everything goes and share some pix!

Ann

 

[thomas998]

The reality is there are pros that in my opinion take poor pictures that I don't care for... there are also hobbyist that take pictures that rival any pros...

Here you have someone that looked at your work and liked it enough to want you to do her wedding. If you think you work is consistent and what your did at the last two weddings wasn't just a fluke, then go for it.... The only thing you should really do is get what they want and you want down on paper. The last thing you want is to find out after the wedding that you two had different expectations... this is especially true of what you are charging.

Even if you don't have any expectation of being a professional photographer, you have a chance to make some money doing what you like to do... why not just do it.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

thank you all for the support. I posted one of the photos on the best from your last time using your camera post. I will try to post more. I have gotten much better from the first wedding to the 2nd wedding. First I didn't realize to shoot in raw, only had one class under my belt and only kit lenses with not external flash (on body only). You can see the improvement, but the bride from the first wedding was still thrilled with hers.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

wedding number 1

wedding number 2

 

[DueyDooDah]

Good composition. One thing you should beware of. Most brides will expect a white wedding dress. And, I mean WHITE. Any color tint at all and you may hear about it. Always shoot in RAW to help with that.

 

[Chikabowa]

Weddings are A LOT of work. A lot. It would have to be a pretty close friend of mine to take one on without any compensation. I spend approximately 15-20 hours prior to the wedding in prep, at 8-12 hours the day of shooting, another 20-30+ hours designing the album.

Some things you really should think about - Are you confident in your skills no matter the lighting, weather, or situation? Do you have the necessary equipment (or can you rent the necessary equipment) to get the shot? Do you have a back up on your equipment? Do you have a plan if something goes wrong (hard drive crashes, corrupt memory card, flash unit dies)? Lastly, do you have the proper insurance in case something happens? Do you or can you find a proper contract?

Friend or not... these things can go sideways REALLY fast...

These are all things I had to think of long and hard about before going pro in the wedding arena. At my last wedding, I slung my camera over my shoulder (D3 with a 70-200 lens - so big and heavy) and my camera strap snapped falling to the ground in the middle of the reception. I was lucky.. it fell onto some soft grass, but only inches from concrete. It could have been a disaster... but I also knew I had the proper insurance in case it broke and I knew I could finish the day because I had my back up.

Small wedding or not - if you want to do this, you should definitely do it right. If you want to talk further... please PM me. I'd love to help you out in any way possible! If you decide not to do the wedding, I know of some amazing photographers in that area that are portfolio building and are very accessible in pricing.

 

[thomas998]

was that dress white or blue... I'm not sure I can tell.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

here is the untouched raw photo

 

[thomas998]

here is the untouched raw photo

I'm still not sure what color it was... do you remember if it was white or ice blue... Regardless of whether the white balance is off or not... I think you were stretching the dynamic range of your camera a bit.. the dress seems a little washed out while the faces seem a tad under exposed.... I might suggest you get a decent add-on flash for your camera... the little pop ups help some but only when you are very close to the subject, I think in this shot if you had any flash that you were a little too far away for it to be effective.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

I'm still not sure what color it was... do you remember if it was white or ice blue... Regardless of whether the white balance is off or not... I think you were stretching the dynamic range of your camera a bit.. the dress seems a little washed out while the faces seem a tad under exposed.... I might suggest you get a decent add-on flash for your camera... the little pop ups help some but only when you are very close to the subject, I think in this shot if you had any flash that you were a little too far away for it to be effective.

external flash was used. I asked if you would take the job. As I said, the photographer saw my photos and approved. Thanks for you opinion though.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

fortheloveofpooh, You do really nice work...

You should absolutely do their wedding if it's what YOU really want to do.

Make sure the bride knows you are an amateur and if it feels better to you,

give her one more chance to look elsewhere if that's what the bride wants.

I have done tons of weddings for friends over the years, they have all been happy just having the memories. I have never had one critique my photos because of color balance - the ones who would critique you would be the first to call another professional.

This bride likes your eye.

IMHO, you should take that and run with it and be proud that she chose you.

 

[Frantasmic]

Do all the brides' mothers love your work? You know why I am asking.

I like your pictures. However, and don't take this wrong, they look exactly like you described them: an skilled amateur taking the pictures.

Not that there's anything wrong with that as you have stated the brides are happy with that. They are good pictures and your touch up from RAW was really good. However, if you are in the same social circle with the bride or ANY of her family or ANY of her friends, you will forever be compared to what they "think" the professional uncle photographer could have done. And there is always the possibility of the bride regretting her decision later on, even if you take the best photos you ever have taken or ever will take. Considering your reaction to the other poster's honest critique, well...

That's a big burden, but only you can determine if you want to handle that burden. I don't see why if the uncle is well-known, if he doesn't have some friends who might do the wedding slightly cheaper for their friend.

 

[Miss Kelly]

Do all the brides' mothers love your work? You know why I am asking.

I like your pictures. However, and don't take this wrong, they look exactly like you described them: an skilled amateur taking the pictures.

Not that there's anything wrong with that as you have stated the brides are happy with that. They are good pictures and your touch up from RAW was really good. However, if you are in the same social circle with the bride or ANY of her family or ANY of her friends, you will forever be compared to what they "think" the professional uncle photographer could have done. And there is always the possibility of the bride regretting her decision later on, even if you take the best photos you ever have taken or ever will take. Considering your reaction to the other poster's honest critique, well...

That's a big burden, but only you can determine if you want to handle that burden. I don't see why if the uncle is well-known, if he doesn't have some friends who might do the wedding slightly cheaper for their friend.

I couldn't have said it better.

I think photographing a friend's wedding is one thing, but taking on a job for someone you don't know is a whole other ballgame.

 

[jann1033]

i have to agree with the last 2 comments. not to appear harsh to anyone's talents but lots of times some have posted photos of their wedding photos taken by friends( there was a whole tread not long ago)and i'm surprised how bad they are. i think that just shows that the average bride doesn't really know what to look for in a good photograph, ie they like the ring shot or the look on the groom's face or something and ignore the blown out sky. but once money comes into play it might be a different story. personally i would never want the hassle of dealing with weddings but if that is something you would like to do i would perfect your photography first. otherwise, the stuff you do now might come back to haunt you if you do decide to become a pro. it doesn't take much to get word around that you didn't do a good job for someone and that could kill your career.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

What if I screw something up??

Isn't that a given? Let's face it, there's a reason the professionals are professionals - they are paid to do the job impeccibly! If these friends are on such a low budget, they must be aware they are not going to get the same results they'd get from a pro, right? So if you do the job, just do it to the best of your ability and don't worry too much about the rest. It sounds like this is a gamble these couples are willing to take (and I'd make sure that's the case).

Would I do it? No, I doubt that I would. To me, it's just not worth potentially losing a friendship over, and I also have high expectations of myself when someone's relying on me so I'd probably be a basket case over it. Plus, I'd just like to kick back at the wedding, too, and not be all stressed out about whether my photos are going to measure up or not.

For my own wedding, we had a pretty low budget outdoor reception, but the one thing I refused to compromise on was the photographer. I paid full price for one I chose who I previously watched in action and was really impressed by. He did a beautiful job. But guess what? He lost a lot of pictures from the beginning of the ceremony at the church, which was particularly hard for me since that was where the majority of pictures of my two little flower girls and ring bearer were taken (before they changed clothes), so I had few, if any, professionally done shots of them. But that just goes to show that even the pros can screw up! (I think he felt badly about it so he later gave me all the proofs and I believe, the negatives too. Have you considered what you'd do in a situation like that?)

 

[MarkBarbieri]

What would I do? I wouldn't shoot it. I hate dealing with brides. They are almost all totally psycho.

The question that is important is "what should you do?" On one hand, you still have to deal with the fact that brides are psycho. They have expectations for their wedding that can never be met by any level of perfection. Why put yourself through that? On the other hand, a good amateur shooting pictures is better than nothing and much cheaper than a pro.

I think it depends on several things. First, how important is this wedding. I had several friends that I knew were likely to only marry once in their life. I had others that, frankly, were likely to stay married for less time than they keep a car.

I would also consider how they see the day. I know lots of people that spend obscene amounts ($50K doesn't seem unusual anymore) on a wedding and they expect the day to be perfect. I hate even going to those things; I would never bring a camera to one. There are others that have informal affairs with a small group of friends and family. Even I might shoot something like that.

You know that you aren't likely to do as good a job as a pro. You know that you probably won't do as good a job as your friend hopes (life just seems to work out that way). Is it going to be good enough? That's up to you and the bride. I love to see people save money on their weddings, and this is a great way for them to do so and for you to contribute.

We hired a pro photographer for our wedding, but I don't know that I've ever bothered to look at the pictures. I think our total wedding was less than $5K in modern terms. We borrowed a dress, I wore a suit, we spent less than $100 on wedding rings, we had the ceremony in a public park, etc. It was still a very nice day and we didn't burden our parents or go into debt. Instead, we saved a lot of money and that helped us get our finances off to a good start.

The bride and groom and their commitment to one another are the only things that really matter at a wedding. Everything else is a luxury. Don't spend more money on luxuries than you can afford. If they can't afford a big wedding and you can help save some money by taking cheaper pictures, do it.

And if anyone in the Houston area is having a Sub $5,000 wedding and wants amateur photographer help, I'd be glad to be part of something like that.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

Thanks everyone. I am still thinking I will do it, only because I could use a few extra $ for Disney. But I just (yesterday) spoke to the uncle and he will help me with the staging but will do it a week before where we can go at our own speed, and this will help me so I know what they want done ahead of time. I am thinking a little better about this. How else does one learn but from much practice.SO YAY ME!!!

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

forgot to add, her uncle stated to me that he is glad she chose someone whose work she has seen and that is starting out. He likes to help out beginners. I wonder if he needs an assistant??? I am afraid to ask. LOL